


"The Sounds of Winter"

by ReadByYourFingers



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:49:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29888979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReadByYourFingers/pseuds/ReadByYourFingers
Summary: The famous singer, for the first time in more than ten years, came to a concert in her hometown, from which she tried to escape with all her might. But it was here that she realized: no matter how hard she tried, this town would always haunt her.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character





	"The Sounds of Winter"

**Author's Note:**

> You are free to use this script, improvise with text, cues, sfx and other moments as long as you having fun with it and note me (u/ReadByYourFingers) in description.
> 
> [ ] is for sfx, emotions, voice tones, actions and environment description.  
> * * is for recommended emphasis
> 
> And I'm apologize for the amount of mistakes that you will find in the text. I'm trying to improve my English, and hopefully one day I won't have much to reproach.

[Narrative]  
I get to summer with a smile and a single song.  
I thought that I’d forget, that day your lips were bitter.  
I hoped to find the sacred place where I belong,  
But only stronger grows the coldest sounds of winter.

[A few seconds of silence]

[SFX: sounds of the crowd loud at first, but gradually fading with your quick steps]  
[SFX: door opening and closing]  
[Tired exhale]

[Tired voice until the next voice tag]  
Fuck...

No, Jimmy. Everything is fine. I'm just tired.

No, public was great actually. They didn't even ask me to sing the fucking "Sounds of winter". 

A good song? I don't know. I'm not sure about that. I know that everyone likes it, but it's hard for me to perform here even without it, and it would be even harder to sing this song here.

Because... Shit... Let's not talk about that. I don't want to stir it all up right now.

Thank you.

Yes, maybe you are right. Maybe I'm just tired of these trips, and that's all. Besides, this is my hometown. I was here last time about ten years ago, and we'll be leaving again tomorrow.

Yes, I settled them in California as soon as I could. They had wanted to move to a warmer land for a long time, so the superstar daughter couldn't say no to them. 

Friends? This is going to be a fun conversation. [Falsely cheerful] Hey, I haven't seen you in ten years, but as you can tell from the posters, I'm in town right now. How about a beer? But just for a little while, I have to leave in the morning. Yeah, I'm still the same shitty friend I always was. [Falsely cheerful ends]

Oh, don't pretend. You don't like the way I behave with people. I don't know why you put up with me at all.

[Giggle] True enough. But you agreed to that salary, so bear with me, bodyguard.  
Hey, where did this bottle come from? Did you decide to drink on duty?

Why would he leave such a gift? Usually it's a bottle of champagne and a colorful set of flowers. But here they put my favorite whiskey.  
No, don't answer. I'll just take it and find a good use for it.

Give me an hour, and then we'll go. I don't want to hear all the crap the manager starts spewing at me as soon as I get into the hotel room. I'm just going to sit in this dressing room and clear my head. 

Whatever you say. Now please... Leave me alone with this bottle.

Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm not going to empty it. But I'm not going to make it through the night sober either. 

I'll be fine. Just... Give me a hour, okay? 

Thank you. Really.

[SFX: door opening and closing]

[SFX: you open the bottle and fill the glass]

[Hating voice until the next voice tag]  
You know, I hated coming back here... And I always hated you. Every house on every one of your streets. Every sign on every roof. Every goddamn day spent in you. I avoided you for ten fucking years. Like the manager said, people from half the state came, and I still didn't want to come here.

[SFX: you drink from the glass]

I know that you hear me. I know, that you listen to me right now. You're not just a city. You're a goddamn monster, who won't let anyone out of his clutches. You even got the biggest stage in the state now, that much you didn't want to let me go.  
Well, here I am. Enjoy while you can. Tomorrow I'll fly away, and you can be sure I'll never come back. You can burn to a crisp, I won't even come to laugh.  
Cheers, shithole.

[SFX: you drink from the glass]

[SFX: door knocking]

[Loud] I asked to be alone.

[SFX: door opening]

[Angrily voice until the next voice tag]  
What?

I don't care.

So? That's why *you* standing there. To not let anyone in. Even if he owns the place.

He can say what he wants. I don't care about his name.

[Nervous voice until the next voice tag]  
What? Did you say... Shit...  
Yes yes yes, of course, let him in.

[SFX: footsteps]

Oh shit... It's really you. [Nervous chuckle]

No no no, Jimmy, everything is fine. He's my old friend. 

Yes, thanks. Now, could you, please...

[SFX: door closing]

Shit, I don't even know... Don't know what to say.

Yes, starting with a greeting is a great plan. 

[Cheerfull voice until the next voice tag]  
Hi.

[Giggle] Yes, only "Hi". Sorry, I'm just too surprised to see you. 

So you really own this place. Who would have thought?

No, not in the way that you couldn't handle it. I remember you said that one day you would open your stage. I just didn't think it would be on this scale.

Yes, you really did it. I'm very happy for you.

And what about me? It's nothing new.

Well, only if that. But take away touring, a couple of awards, a dozen albums, a big apartment and a two-story house on the coast, and I will be the same performer singing her shitty songs. 

[Giggle] No, the good ones are usually written by someone else. I even like the same whiskey. But you seem to know that yourself.

Yeah, I'm sorry. Would you like a drink?

[SFX: you fill the glass]

No, it didn't. And it never will. It will always be the same crap that's better for making fires than drinking.

[SFX: you drink from the glass]

So, tell me. How did a penniless guy open such a big scene in a shithole like this?

No big deal, listen to him. I read the news. People come here from all over the state now. And when there was this heavy music festival a couple of years ago, there was a hell of a lot going on.

And who helped? 

[A few seconds of silence with occasional comments like "uh-huh," "oh," and "wow".]

So. Correct me if I misunderstood. You spent years looking for investors to fulfill your teenage dream, and then some prick just decided to invest a lot of money in a huge concert arena in the middle of nowhere, also making you the boss?

And what's the catch?

Don't lie to me. I've learned a lot about this business to believe in this kind of charity.

No, seriously. What's his interest?

Come on, tell me. You know I'm not a snitch. 

Okay, I get it. No problem. But at least tell me, there is a catch, and you do understand it?

Good. I won't ask again. But if you ever need any help with that, let me know, and I'll help in any way I can. Deal?

Okay, let's then... Hmm?

Yeah, sure, ask whatever you want.

Wow. This is something I didn't expect so quickly. 

No, I knew you would ask that. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon. Especially since I already answered that before I actually left.

[Thoughtful voice until the next voice tag]  
[During the story, you take sips from the glass at random points.]

Touché.  
Well... You know, I never liked this town. As a kid, I dreamed of big cities, how I would spend my days wandering between skyscrapers, going to one of those crowded schools, buying toys in huge stores, then becoming some kind of celebrity and having my face on the covers of all those girlie magazines. The silly dreams that come to every child who has watched too much TV.

But the older I got, the better I realized that it wasn't about where I wanted to go, it was about where I wanted to escape from. It's all about this town. It's always been. This town devours people. This town is alive, and it's very, very greedy. It lets residents in, but it doesn't let anyone leave. But that's not enough for him. He's sucking people dry. It's like they're emptying out. Not right away, it takes years. But every day the town will suck more and more out of you, until one day you become Uncle George.

Because he's a model of what the town does to people. He was in public every day, but no one could say anything about him. He just was. Every day he did the same job. Every day he took the same thing to the store. Every day he went to bed at the same time. Day after day after day. Year after year. And when he died, his grave was exactly the same as the graves of dozens of his neighbors. Only the numbers are different. Real American Gothic.  
Do you want some more?

No, I mean whiskey. 

[SFX: you fill the glass]

Here you go.

Mm? No, George is just an example. What I mean, is that this town crushes the people, it doesn't allow anyone to stand out. It makes you feel comfortable enough for the rest of your life. Once you get into its rhythm, you belong to it. The harder you try to break free, the tighter it clenches its claws. I saw it in the adults around me, in my friends, and especially in my own parents, that were withering away here.

Yes, that's exactly why. As soon as I made enough money, I took them out of here. They didn't want to, they resisted, and they weren't happy for a while after the move. But literally six months later, they changed. And it's not just because I support them and they don't have to work anymore. They look like I knew them when I was a kid again. It was as if they were younger. And they don't want to come back here.

Yes. I didn't want this town to eat me up, too. I didn't want to become the empty shell I'd seen for two decades. So as soon as the opportunity arose, I left. 

Don't. Please. It wasn't any easier for me than it was for you. Besides, you're the one who said you wanted to stay.

I know. Don't make excuses, I remember everything, and I'm not going to accuse you of anything. But I couldn't stay here any longer. Forgive me for being so selfish, but I had to leave. 

[A few seconds without words, in which you fill your glass again and take a few sips.]

Hmm? What song? What do you mean?

Oh. That...

[Sigh]  
Yes. The last time I sang it was year ago, when we were re-recording the first album. And even before that, I tried not to bring it up too much.

Because it's part of this town. The only one of all my own songs that was written here.  
Ironic. The song that helped me escape from this city is forever tied to it. 

I thought it would be about something else. But even the fucking song tells me how this town doesn't want to let me go. Reminds me of it all the time. I didn't even think I was leaving when I wrote it. I didn't think it would be so... Prophetic. 

Every. Fucking. Word.

You don't remember the lyrics, since you're asking that.

No. I won't sing it. It's... It's just too much. 

[SFX: you drink from the glass]

[SFX: you smash your glass against the wall]

[SFX: door opening]

Jimmy, leave us alone! 

Yes, I'm fucking sure!

[SFX: door closing]

[Your voice starts to slo-o-owly turn to crying. Suitable sounds where and as long you think you need it]

Fuck... I gave up everything I had. I quit my family, I quit my job, I quit you! You, damn it! I put our love in the darkest corner of my mind so I wouldn't go crazy from how bad I felt. I forced myself to smile, and for a moment I even believed that I really felt good. I sacrificed everything I had. With only one fucking song I went into the unknown, and I had no idea what was waiting for me. I only hoped that someday I would be able to erase that damn town from my memory and live a normal, happy life.  
Bitter lips... Of course they were bitter, I've been crying all night long on your shoulder, trying to deal with this shit. Trying to understand why I had to choose between you and myself. I didn't understand why you didn't want to come with me, but I accepted it. Through pain, but I accepted it. And that's why I never wrote, so I wouldn't know if your life had suddenly gone to shit. I only hoped that you were better off without such a hysterical girlfriend.  
I dove headfirst into this shit. And this is it, this is what I dreamed of. Auditions, records, concerts, interviews, tours, all that shit. I've been traveling around the country, flying across continents, trying to get excited about fucking success. But no, it didn't fucking work.  
The further I went, the more popular I became, the more people were interested in my past. The more they asked about that damn town. The more often I had to sing the fucking "sounds of winter". The more often I had to think of what I had left behind.

[By this point, you're crying. Suitable sounds where and as long you think you need it]

I'm tired. I'm so tired of this. I don't even want to leave this room, because then I would have to ride to the hotel through these streets. I just want to leave this town and never come back. To erase this place from my memory. The town and everything related to it. But I can't. I tried. All these years I tried to forget. But it's just not possible. 

[You're trying to calm down]

No, nothing is fine. And it will never be fine. Don't you get it? This city has already broken me. Even before I left. It broke me in the moment I decided to leave it. He sucked all he could. Everything I had. All these years, it was just my empty shell that roamed the country. I fed everyone tales of how good I was, conquering the damn industry. I convinced myself that everything was fine, that I was out of here, that I just needed to think less about this town. But I'm just a fool. A fool who didn't want to see that I lost before I even started the game. Once I decided to sacrifice our love... That's when he won. I wish they had told me to fuck off at that label. I'd rather come back to you with that stupid song. We would have had a family, kids, we would have loved each other, and I wouldn't have had to fill my head with all this bullshit. Maybe I would even be happy.

No. No, don't say anything. It should have been me, years ago. And now... It's too late for that. It's the love and happiness that I fucked up. And I fucked it up for nothing. This town got what it wanted, and I ended up with nothing. He won, and I'm not going to play with him anymore. Give me the tissues please.

Thank you.

[You wipe your face of tears and dripping makeup.]

Forgive me. For what I did back then. For what I did today. 

No, don't pity me. Please. Let's just... Just finish this bottle and pretend it never happened. Just talk like old childhood friends about the problems of adulthood. And then tomorrow I'll be gone. You'll continue to be the owner of a huge concert arena, and I'll continue to travel the world, pretending that my life makes sense.

Yes, I'm sure. There's nothing else for me to do. I have to manage somehow.

Thank you.  
By the way... Do you still want to hear it?

"The sounds of winter" of course. 

And I still don't want to. But I won't perform it anymore. Not at concerts or in the studio. Never again I will utter a line of it. You may become the last person to hear it live. A small present for all the shit I've done here.

So what have you decided?

[A few seconds of silence]

[Narrative]  
I get to summer with a smile and a single song.  
I thought that I’d forget, that day your lips were bitter.  
I hoped to find the sacred place where I belong,  
But only stronger grows the coldest sounds of winter.


End file.
